Retail activity was booming in Tysons for the first half of this year, surging past pre-pandemic levels, the Tysons Community Alliance (TCA) found in a recent report.
Released last month, the retail-focused market report for the second quarter of 2025 offered some positive economic news for Fairfax County at a time when the federal government shutdown and rising unemployment have kept the larger D.C. region on edge.
According to the report, visits to retail businesses in Tysons were up 7% this past April compared to April 2019, completing a recovery that has been gradually unfolding over the past few years.
Based on data from Placer.ai, which uses sensors to track travel, some businesses have benefitted more from the return of foot traffic than others. Spa and beauty salons have led the way with visitations surging 42% from 2019 levels, while home improvement stores are still “slightly below 2019 benchmarks,” the Q2 2025 report says.
Hotels notably continue to struggle to attract customers, reaching only 78% of the visitation levels the sector saw prior to the pandemic. Occupancy rates stayed flat for the second quarter of 2025 at 76%, the exact same rate as 2024.
Still, as a whole, retail — a category that also includes restaurants, grocery stores, medical services, and apparel and electronics shops — has remained robust. The vacancy rate was a miniscule 1.6%, down from 2.2% in the second quarter of 2024, and average rents per square foot ticked up from $41.43 to $42.91.
“The figures in this report signal resilience in the Tysons market during a period when the greater Washington region is facing difficult economic headwinds,” TCA Vice President of Strategy and Research Drew Sunderland said. “Robust sales growth at Tysons Corner Center, and a key office investment by [The Meridian Group] at The Boro, provide some bright spots to monitor amid broader uncertainty.”
Leading the way on the retail sector’s recovery has been Tysons Corner Center, which recorded more than 7 million visits for the year by the end of June — an 8% increase from 2024. The approximately 3.7 million people who visited in the second quarter represented a 10% increase over the second quarter of last year.
Sales at the D.C. area’s largest mall also climbed 8% between January and June over the same time period in 2024, per the report, defying regional trends.
“Many shopping districts and centers in the metro area are facing headwinds from shifting consumer habits, inflationary pressures, and lingering effects of federal spending cuts,” the TCA said in its report. “In contrast, Tysons Corner Center’s growth in both visitation and sales highlights its outsized draw and resilience.”
Tysons Corner Center Director of Property Management Jesse Benites credits the mall’s post-pandemic success to owner Macerich’s efforts to expand its offerings “beyond traditional retail” with entertainment, events and “strategic partnerships.”
Highlights from the first half of 2025 included the arrival of new eateries like Gagawa and Hey Tea, Barnes & Noble’s return, cherry blossom celebrations and the annual Taste of Tysons Corner event in May.
More recently, the mall welcomed the gaming and dining venue Level99, among other new stores, and unveiled a mural facing Route 123 that was commissioned with the TCA’s help.
“We’ve intentionally transformed Tysons into a dynamic, mixed-use destination where shopping, dining, entertainment, and experiences intersect,” Benites said in a statement to FFXnow. “… As we look ahead, we’re committed to building on this momentum, continuing to reimagine the property in ways that meet the needs of today’s consumer and cement Tysons Corner Center as the heart of this growing region.”
According to the TCA’s report, Tysons has remained a regional draw even outside its shopping malls, bringing in an average of 125,000 daily visitors from outside its boundaries in both May and June — the most outside of the winter holiday season since the pandemic.
Employee visits are also on the rise, increasing 13% year-over-year for the second quarter and 11% over the first quarter of 2025. Offices are still facing challenges, though, with a vacancy rate hovering around 20% and 1,057 more square feet of space becoming available than landlords managed to lease.
Reflecting an ongoing imbalance in demand between older and newer properties, office space in Tysons is going for an overall average rent of $37.32 per square foot, down slightly from $37.77 in Q2 2024, but trophy rents increased year over year from $61.33 per square foot to $62.67.
In its report, the TCA pointed to the Meridian Group’s June acquisition of Boro Central — the 21-story building at 1750 Tysons Central Street previously known as Tysons Central — as a sign of “strong” investor confidence, potentially jumpstarting activity at a vacant property just outside the Greensboro Metro station.
All 388,206 rentable square feet appear to still be available, including 18,650 square feet of street-level retail space, but Meridian is planning to enhance the building’s amenities with a 100-person conference center and podcast room on the eighth floor, according to a marketing brochure.
